Gospel for December 19 2021 – Luke 1:39-45
Gospel Reflections for December 19 2021
Surprise gift just for you…
Christmas is about surprises …gifts under the tree, unexpected but welcome guests, and cards from long ago friends.
The Gospel also presents people who thought everything was routine …and then were amazingly surprised!
Mary assumed she would never have a child because she had taken a vow of celibacy as some very devout Jews did at that time. Her cousin Elizabeth, who deeply wanted a child, was a very elderly but barren woman that no one would ever think would have a child. Bethlehem was a very small village in which no one believed anything important would ever happen.
Finally, the land of Judea, where Mary and Elizabeth lived, was a long way from Rome, the powerful capital of the world where everything important happened, and so nothing meaningful could ever happen in this small Middle Eastern country. All these ideas were amazingly reversed, as today’s Gospel affirms.
Our Lord is certainly about surprises, and likes to arrive at the least expected place and appear to the least expected person. Our Lord’s arrival is always His freely chosen initiative. That way, no one or no place can ever claim credit for having deserved it.
Perhaps Jesus actively looks for and seeks humble stables to be born, to virgins who least expect it, to elderly women who would never believe it, or to small towns like Bethlehem who would never imagine it. When Jesus appears, it is always His freely chosen act and not of your doing.
That changed Mary, Elizabeth, Bethlehem, and Judea into beautiful stories of success, and something they never thought would happen.
If you feel especially humble this year, if you feel like a small stable in Bethlehem, then you are just the place that Our Lord is looking to be born. He is looking for the person afraid of Covid, the marriage beset with arguments, and the young person in crisis or seeking answers. You are just the place that Our Lord would like to visit …and change for the better.
The essence of the Christmas story is that everything can change for the better. That Our Lord would come to your life means He believes in you, and has hope for your future.
If you are open to His grace, what you might think is the end of the road is only the beginning of a new and surprisingly wonderful story. Merry Christmas!
God Bless!
Fr. Dave
Thank you for a most timely and profound inspiration. Merry Christmas!
You are very welcome. Merry Christmas!
So true! In the least expected places. In Christ.
Yes, indeed! That is the Good News.
How do you know that Mary took a vow of celibacy? Does it mention this in the Bible? This question has arisen several times in our Bible Study, lots of discussion on the matter. Your comments would be appreciated as we will begin a study on Mary in January. (Hail, Holy, Queen by Scot Hahn and the Bible and the Virgin Mary workbook. Thank you and may you have a blessed, joy-filled Christmas.
A vow of celibacy would explain her remarkable question to the Angel. With no vow, she would simply expect to have a child in the normal way. No need for her to question how her childbirth would happen. However, she asks “How can this be?” Only a prior vow would explain her asking this question. These vows were not out of the ordinary even in a culture that pried childbirth so much. Hope this helps!
Love your beautiful commentary!!Love being a small stable in Bethlehem and having our precious Jesus come to me!! Loveeeeeeeeeeee it and loveeeeeee your beautiful inspiring words!! Have a beautiful Merry Christmas!!!
Loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, Franca and Dick
Thank you!
Thank you, Fr. Dave for your thoughtful c0mmentary!
I like you thoughts on where Jesus likes to be born!
May we ever grow closer to that realization!
Merry Christmas!
You understood the article very well!
Dear Father Dave,
Yes, Jesus does find us and miracles happen!
Wishing you and your family the beauty and joy of Christmas.
Thank you for all your time and dedication in spreading God’s word and love. May God bless you, now and forever.
Kathleen
Thank you, and Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas Father Dave. Argyle and Barbara Nelson
Dear Fr. Dave,
Thank for the Advent message of humility. We all experienced this, especially when we encounter individuals that we’re at odds with.
One of my experiences this season was, an encounter with Pride. During confession the Priest ask me about evil, and I didn’t know how to respond . Then his ‘quid pro quo’ proceeded.
He asked about my views on abortion, child trafficking, prostitution, government corruption worldwide…all the way to my family history–where my sinning may have some bearing. He made it sound like my absolution depends on my answers to his questions.
I’ve had encounters with people in the past who’ve made me feel bad about myself. This one is nothing new, except that it’s with a Priest of the Church.
Of course my answers to his questions were something that he would disagree with. Views I hold in politics and other social issues could be viewed as temptations. But do I have to confess temptations knowing that it is not a sin. Just like free will.
But my main question is; is “quid pro quo” the new normal in the Sacrament of Reconciliation?
I cannot really comment on what the priest said since I do not know his actual words and certainly I do not know his intentions. I hope his intentions were to be helpful in some way. That is always the role of a priest n Confession. Temptations about evil are not sinful in that we cannot stop all kinds of ideas entering our mind. After all, Jesus was famously tempted three times in the desert. They only become sinful if we make a decision to keep thinking of them, or, of course, acting on them.